Intended audience: DataKind Volunteers
As the first step in the Design stage, DataKind and the partner organization need to sign a Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) and Data License Agreement. The Mutual NDA should be signed as soon as the partner organization might share anything about its internal operations with DataKind. We require 10 business days for DataKind’s Operations Team to complete a contract review, and this MUST be in place before the Design stage begins. Find the templates for these requirements and brief summaries of what they cover below:
- Mutual NDA template - “We commit to keeping any information you give us to ourselves, including but not limited to data. You can also tell us about your operational challenges, and we won’t share it with anyone.”
- Data License Agreement template - “We are only going to use your data for what you allow us to use it for.”
Once you are ready to get the agreements in order to start the Design Stage of a project, connect the partner organization and your DataKind staff support by email, noting that the partner is ready to receive the agreements. That’s it! DataKind staff will take it from there to ensure agreements are signed and executed.
What if we are only using publicly available data?
The Mutual NDA is still required, because the organization will likely share information with us that they do not want shared publicly, even if not data. If there is any chance DataKind will use any data from the partner organization, then both parties need a Data License Agreement. If you are 100% sure you will only be using public data (even if the scope changes), the Data License Agreement is still highly encouraged because we typically do something to or with the publicly available data and give it back to the partner organization. The Data License Agreement states that the partner organization is responsible for using the data we have manipulated for them wisely, even if it is publicly available information. It confirms that they will hold us harmless if people get hurt because (as the social good implementing organization) they are the expert in how the data is used.
Contributer(s): Benjamin Kinsella, Caroline Charrow, Gwen Hopkins, Shanna Lee, Russatta Buford, Rachel Wells
Contact us
If you would like to learn more about us, partner with us, or get in touch, visit our website or email community@datakind.org.
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